The status quo remains intact after this year's Calista Corporation annual meeting, held Friday in Sleetmute.
Four board of director seats were up for reelection and all four directors were reelected: Leslie Hunter, Willie Kasayulie, Margaret Pohjola, and Earl Samuelson.
The one resolution up for vote failed to pass. The resolution would have reduced the number of votes required to make a quorum at an annual meeting. Right now, half the membership is required to vote. The resolution would have reduced it to one-third.
Calista had campaigned heavily for the change after years of declining shareholder voting and many meetings barely reaching quorum. When quorum isn't met, which has only happened a few times in Calista's history, the Corporation has to reschedule its annual meeting, which can cost $100,000 - $200,000.
Calista Spokesperson Thom Leonard says that where the annual meeting is held doesn't seem to affect voting numbers, because most voting is done by paper or online. This year's meeting was held in Sleetmute, population 100, far up the Kuskokwim River.
The meeting doubled the town's population. Many shareholders traveled to the meeting by boat from the nearby villages of Red Devil and Crooked Creek. Everyone gathered in the school's wooden gym for the meeting and potlached in the cafeteria on hotdogs and coffee. Many shareholders said that the meeting was a time to gather with old friends and learn about their regional native corporation.
